I once worked on a project where I had to create the perfume of the future. My idea at the time was that in the future most ingredients will eventually become forbidden. So perfumers, and then perfumes themselves, would finally be forbidden. Perfume would become clandestine. You’d have to go, like in Blade Runner, to tiny shops to find mixtures you could use. They would be very simple, just a few ingredients. And more than anything—they couldn’t be too strong—which I love, because fragrances are so powerful. They couldn’t be, because it’s forbidden. If it’s too strong, people will find out.
— Perfumer Antoine Maisondieu, quoted in Crafting ‘To Vetiver’ for Comme des Garçons Parfums: A Conversation with Antoine Maisondieu at Hube.
You know, this actually seems plausible to me. At my workplace, someone would say, “Is someone in here wearing perfume??” and someone else would hastily say, “No, that’s just my lotion/hair gel/laundry detergent.” Something like MFK Aqua Universalis could be like stealth perfume!
Completely plausible to me too!